ReidxPrentiss Drabbles
by fracturedstars
Summary: Originally started as a 25 day countdown but since I've been really unwell lately could not be updated daily. So instead I will keep adding small drabbles to this every few days.
1. Letters to Emily

ABOUT THESE FICS: Ugh, so this originally started as a 25 day countdown to the season premiere on tumblr but I had to leave tumblr and now I'm really unwell so it couldn't be updated daily, I've now changed the title and will continue publishing short drabbles whenever I get ideas for them.

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><p><span>Notes:<span> Set a few weeks after Prentiss's "death" in 6.18, _Lauren_. Spoilers for that episode I guess. Obviously, Reid still thinks she is dead at this point.

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><p>Emily,<p>

To be frank, I don't know why I'm writing this letter at all. JJ said that perhaps, writing to you will help me cope with my "loss". But although there are statistics to prove that writing your feelings down can reduce anxiety and stress levels, I don't see how writing specifically to you is going to be of any use, considering that you will never be able to read this. I may as well try, though.

Either way, I've been missing you a lot, lately. The first week after we buried you was difficult, but it wasn't until last week that I really noticed your absence. Often I find that there are things that I want to tell you, that only you and I would understand, but I can't. I've picked up the phone and dialled your number twice now, both times hearing your voicemail before realising that it wasn't going to get me anywhere. You'd think that for someone with an eidetic memory, surely I could remember something as big as the death of one of my best friends, but for some reason it just escapes me. Perhaps it's because I don't want to accept that this time, you're not coming back.

The bullpen is certainly a lot quieter since we returned to work, but I'm not entirely sure whether that's just because you're not there, or rather because everybody seems to have a melancholic aura surrounding them. I haven't seen Hotch like this since Haley died, and while Morgan is trying to carry on like normal, it's obvious that he blames himself for what happened.

Also… just so that I can get this off my chest, I find that, well, I'm a little mad at you. I just don't understand why you couldn't have just told us what was going on. I know that you were trying to protect us, but I wish you'd just told us the truth. We could've helped, you know, maybe it would have turned out differently.

I miss you, Emily.

- Spencer


	2. Irrationality

Notes: This is set after 4.03. Reid finds it hard to deal with Emily being out in the field because he is constantly reminded of the beating at Liberty Ranch. Obviously there's spoilers for 4.03, _Minimal Loss._

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><p>The fear is irrational, and he's aware of that. It's also highly unprofessional. They work for the FBI, so of course they're going to be put in dangerous situations. But he can't help the constant anxiety he feels when they're out in the field. Every time he sees her step out to face an UnSub, gun at arms length, in his mind he sees her at the hands of Cyrus.<p>

Emily is strong. God, she's probably strongest person he's ever met in his life. But for some reason, he can't seem to shake the thought from his mind: her being dragged by her hair across the floor. He sees it nearly every time he closes his eyes. He hears her words echoing through the hallways of Liberty Ranch.

"I can take it."  
>"Oh, you can take it?"<p>

Every time he envisions it, every time he closes his eyes and _lives _it, he blames himself for what happened all those months ago. He supposes that maybe that's the reason he feels so unsettled when she's out in the field - he feels like if something happened to her, he'd blame himself for not being able to help her, just like he couldn't in Colorado.

Even though it's irrational.


	3. Hidden Envy

Notes: Set during the plane ride in 5.07 _The Performer._

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><p>You know that feeling, when you hear something you don't want to know? Your chest constricts and you can't form proper words because there's a knot in your throat. Your heart rate speeds up to a hundred miles an hour, and it literally feels like your breath has been taken away?<p>

That was the feeling she had when they mentioned this other girl.

The goofy smile plastered across Reid's face at the mention of "Lila" was enough for Emily to figure out that something had happened between them, let alone Morgan shaking his head and avoiding eye contact with the genius. Perhaps before she'd joined the team. But what had happened?

"I think we should probably focus on this case right now, you know, it's a little more… pertinent," he said, glancing in her direction as he did so.

Emily was experienced enough to know how to hide her feelings without putting on too much of a show, so instead of asking the questions she so desperately wanted to ask, she smiled, and raised her eyebrows at JJ, making a mental note to ask her friend about it later.

Before she knew it, he'd succeeded in changing the subject, and was now furiously describing human blood drinkers and Renfield's syndrome. Emily had managed to focus enough on what he was saying to ask a question - "Are they sadists?" - but in reality, her mind was elsewhere.

You know that feeling, when you can actually discern the aching pang of jealousy in the left side of your chest? When you want to crawl into bed, pull the covers over your head and never come out?

That's how she felt.


	4. Accidents Happen

Notes: Set during 5.11 _Retaliation, _spoilers.

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><p>A flustered JJ came rushing into the room, wearing a tight, dark green top and holding a notepad. "There's been an accident," she said, exasperated. "Emily's in the hospital, Bunting's dead."<p>

Emily's in the hospital? He felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach, the way it always did when he heard something alarming or upsetting. He and Prentiss had been dating in secret for nearly eight months now, and it was times like these that he realised the real purpose of the fraternisation rules. Moments like this never failed to terrify him.

_She's your co-worker; it's okay to be worried,_ he told himself.  
>"Is she alright?" he queried, completely overlooking the fact that Bunting was killed and trying his best to remain calm.<br>"She has a concussion," JJ explained.  
>"Is Morgan with her?" Hotch asked.<br>"Yeah."  
>Morgan was with her. Mentally, Reid kicked himself. Of course Morgan was with her, he was acting unit chief. But Reid had always somewhat envied Morgan, because even though he himself had had his fair share of experience with women, there was something about Morgan's confidence and self-assurance that Reid wished he had more of. And while he knew that Emily loved <em>him,<em> there was always a small insecurity that fought against that knowledge.

"Can- can I see her?" he asked JJ, when the others had left the room.  
>"Spence- we need you here, we have to locate Schrader."<br>"Please, JJ- I'll explain later. I'll be back here as soon as possible, I just- I need to see her."  
>"I'll need Morgan back here A.S.A-" she began, but he was already half way out the door.<p> 


	5. Mick Rawson

Notes: Set during 5.21 _Exit Wound, _pretty major spoilers.

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><p>JJ wouldn't drop it. No matter how hard Prentiss tried to tell her she wasn't interested, the blonde liaison kept hounding her.<p>

"Mick Rawson is… an arrogant, over-sexed, egotistical-"  
>JJ interrupted. "Hot, British dude with a sexy accent, badge, and gun. Just your type."<br>_Not my type at all._ "Ugh," Emily groaned, disgusted at the thought.  
>"Alright, you know what? I don't even get you sometimes."<br>"It wouldn't go anywhere," she lied, another desperate attempt to make her friend drop the subject.  
>"You don't know that!"<br>"I know our work schedule!"  
>"Okay, you know what? Will and I make it work."<br>She had her there. "Ahh," Emily half-agreed, too worn-out to argue any further. She looked off to the side, only to have her thoughts interupted by JJ.  
>"Oh, no."<br>When Prentiss looked ahead of her at Penelope Garcia racing towards them with arms full of shopping bags, she silently thanked the universe for the fact that she didn't have to come up with an explanation. An explanation that would somehow involve her telling JJ she was already seeing someone.

But that was where it got complicated. _Was_ she seeing someone? If frequently knocking on each others' doors after midnight to crash into one an other in a fury of passionate kisses and love making, and then turning up to work the next morning and acting as if nothing happened meant she was seeing someone… then yes, she was seeing someone. She was seeing Reid.


	6. Lists

Notes: There'll be two updates today because I had an awfully rough day yesterday so didn't get to write one or post. Set during 4.04 _Paradise._

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><p>After stirring the milk and sugar into his coffee, Reid sat down next to Prentiss on the jet.<br>"Were you serious?" he asked, causing her to look up from the book she was reading. "I mean, about what you said before - about having a list?"  
>Prentiss laughed, closing the book and placing it on the table. "It's not a literal piece of paper, Reid. But sure, I've mentally clocked certain places that I'd rather not stay at by myself. Roadside motels now being one of them." Another slight laugh escaped her lips.<br>"Is it strange that I don't have a list?" Reid wondered aloud.  
>"No, of course not, everybody deals with their experiences differently."<p>

Prentiss glanced at him, and the way he was tapping his fingers on the corduroy of his trousers. She slid her hand over his and stilled it, reminding herself of the last time she held his hand, just a couple of weeks earlier on the plane returning from Colorado. With her other hand she reopened the book, and they continued reading and drinking in silence.


	7. More Than Glances

Notes: Yeah, I'm sorry this has taken a few days and I'm behind in updates. I spent Monday night in the emergency ward, had to delete tumblr yesterday due to some cyber-bullying, and today my best friend's mum broke her leg so she's staying at mine tonight. My headaches are still really bad (over a month now of migraines every day) and I have to go see a neurologist to make sure it's not cancer. I'm not saying this for a sympathy vote (something I was accused of on tumblr), but I'm telling you this because that's the reason I haven't updated. It's been a god-awful week, but I'll try my best to get this up to date. I'm so sorry, and this is kind of short too. Ugh.  
>Not really set during any episode.<p>

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><p>She kept looking at him.<p>

Well, at least he thought she did. Perhaps he was over-analysing the situation. They were friends, right? Well, that; and colleagues, of course. It would be normal for her to look at him while they sat together on the jet. It would be normal for her to pay attention to him while he spoke. That was just common courtesy.

But no, even he could tell this was different. This wasn't just a glance in his direction for a few seconds when he opened his mouth, this was something else. It wasn't a creepy sort of stare, either. It was, well, loving. She was looking at him the way he saw JJ look at Will. The way he used to see Haley look at Hotch. Swollen, warm eyes, filled with a sort of, _you're-everything-I-ever-wanted_ kind of expression.

But no one had ever really looked at him like that before, so he could just be imagining it, right?


End file.
